The Exotic Tree
by EllieLovesToRead
Summary: The Doctor, Amy and Rory end up in a town plagued by an illness, the resident 'crazy man' seems to believe it's linked to the new tree from overseas, can Team TARDIS heal the town before they fall ill themselves?
1. Chapter 1

**The Exotic Tree**

By Ellie

At first glance, the garden seemed innocent. It seemed like an ordinary, mundane place - although it did have some endearing qualities. Beautiful, sweet-smelling flowers stood out amongst the lush, brilliant-green grass in a variety of colours, ranging from deep reds to striking blues. Lined neatly along the paved paths were fist-sized rocks, enhancing its beauty. The most unusual aspect of the land was the tree in the middle of the gravelled area, surrounding the fish pond. The leaves were purple and the branches were red. Sprouting from the tree trunk were giant, green-spotted red flowers. The naïve residents of the village just assumed that the tree was a very rare, exotic tree from across seas. There were a few more observant and wiser villagers who regarded the tree with caution.

Just last week, Samuel - the crazy, old man - had seen the village postman get sucked into the ground by the tree. The police hadn't listened to him when he tried to explain what had happened. They had just dismissed his account of what had happened, claiming him to be a delusional, attention seeker. They had warned him to stay out of the investigation and gave him an official caution for wasting police time. Samuel had also pleaded the other villagers to stay away from the tree but his efforts were in vain and were fallen on deaf ears, besides, what would a strange old man know?

Only yesterday had a similar incident occurred. This time, however, it was a lot more personal to Samuel. Laura - the nice, sweet girl who came to check up on him everyday and sometimes cooked for him on a Wednesday - had gone missing without a trace. Samuel didn't see her go missing but he suspected the tree was behind her disappearance too. The more Samuel suggested the tree was behind these events, the more he was mocked. Parents had warned their children to stay away from him, thinking him to have gone insane in his old age. Samuel had began to feel useless and helpless but little did he know that help was on the way.

Amy was beginning to feel very drowsy; the gentle hum of the TARDIS and her newly-wed husband's body heat was slowly sending her to sleep. Like usual, the day had been eventful and exciting. The Doctor had taken both her and Rory to Tyrainia to see the sunset after they had re-sealed the Egyptian goddess, who had gotten loose on the Orient Express, into the Seventh Obelisk, of course. Amy had thought that it was a wonderful way to spend her honeymoon.

The sunset was spectacular; the planet Tyrainia had four suns that set one after the other. The sundown had lasted an incredible three hours and it was ever-changing its colours. The sky had been filled with every single colour that Amy could think of and, according to the Doctor, some that she couldn't think of because humans couldn't see them. Apparently they lacked the imagination to see colours that they weren't familiar with. All the same, the site had to be one of the top, most beautiful and stunning scenes that she had every seen. It wasn't long, however, until they managed to inevitably run into some sort of trouble. A race called the Beetocks had wanted to invade Tyrainia and enslave the insect-like Tyrainians and basically build an empire. The Doctor had saved the day by using his superior knowledge and his trusty sonic screwdriver. Soon after that, they had to make a swift exit as, apparently, the Tyrainians eat their saviours at the celebration feast.

Now, exhausted, all Amy wanted to do was fall asleep on the steps she was currently sitting on. Looking at Rory, she suspected it was the same for him. The hectic day didn't seem to have slowed the Doctor down any, though. He was doing his usual maintenance on the TARDIS console, flicking a switch and pulling a lever here and there. He occasionally typed on the typewriter-look-a-like thing and talked to himself…or to Amy or Rory but they seemed too tired to be even paying attention. All of a sudden he turned towards the couple with a look of excitement in his eyes.

"So, where now?" even his voice was filled with barely contained eagerness. "We could go to 18th century France, they do some lovely food around that period." He looked at both Amy and Rory before lowering his voice, "I've been there before. No, no, no, we could go to the planet Sanctuary, which is a planet colonised by humans thousands of years in your future, or, or we could go to the planet Baghue and watch the 10-yearly eclipse. We could set the co-ordinates to random and let the TARDIS chose our destination and let her-"

"Bed," Amy butted in. Surprise was clearly written all over the Doctor's face before he composed himself.

"Bed… Yes, sleep! Go to sleep," the Doctor started rambling about sleeping and Amy pulled herself to her feet and yanked the quiet Rory up too.

"I, am shattered! C'mon, Rory, I need you to keep the bed warm for me."

"G'night Doctor," Rory called over his shoulder as Amy dragged him up the stairs that led to their room, "or morning or afternoon, you can never tell in this place." The Doctor smiled fondly at his companions before walking down the stairs that led under the console to do some more maintenance there. It would be a few hours before he would retreat to his own room hidden in the long corridors in the TARDIS for his hour-long sleep.

Back in the village of Redmount, the situation was getting desperate. Not only were people going missing but at least half of the population were getting ill, weak or tired as if they had had all of their energy drained from them. They were also having problems with their power, even their cars wouldn't start the first time. Most of the residents were still too narrow-minded to heed old Samuel's warnings, however, there were a few who now avoided the tree. It seemed pointless to avoid the tree now, though, as it can affect the whole village and those who don't even go anywhere near the tree.

There had only been 3 deaths from the illness, but there had been a total of 7 disappearances, including the postman and Laura. The victims of the tree seemed random but there had to be some sort of link. What did the tree want? People had started to assume that the water or the crops that they had been eating had to be polluted and bought their food and drink from the nearest cities or towns.

The help that the villagers had been waiting for had finally come. The normal, green leaves scattered around the edge of the woods blew softly in a breeze that seemed to come out of nowhere. Following the breeze was a metallic thrumming, sending a frightened squirrel scuttling up a tree. Once the sound had stopped, an old, blue 1950's police box materialised out of thin air. It stood tall with an air of mystery surrounding it, which was cancelled out by the perception filter.

The Doctor, Rory and Amy stepped out the TARDIS and looked around curiously. It looked like they had landed in the early evening as it was only just starting to go dark.

"Where are we?" Amy asked exhilarated as she grabbed the Doctor's arm.

"Earth." He looked down at his watch before continuing. "Early 21st century, England."

"Out of all the places we could have landed, out of the whole universe, we land on Earth." Rory added, unhelpfully.

"It's not my fault, the TARDIS chose for us." The Doctor looked around their surroundings before replying with, "Where is everyone?"

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A/N: I wrote this story ages ago, just after The Big Bang was aired, and I thought it was time to publish it online, enjoy =)


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

After a quick exploration around the village, the Doctor came to the conclusion that it was a dull as Leadworth. Amy-and even Rory-seemed bored already of the rural area but the Doctor could sense there was something wrong, in fact the place screamed "wrong" so much that it gave him a headache.

"Doctooor? Can we go?" that was Amy. She was getting a little impatient from the lack of anything exciting.

"Not yet, there's something wrong here," the Doctor told them in an absent-minded way. "Can't you feel that? Can you feel it in the air?" He was treated to two identical, blank looks. "Just me then." The Doctor massaged his forehead as he felt the headache worsen.

"Doctor? Are you alright?" Rory spoke up, his instincts as a nurse told him something was wrong with the Time Lord. Rory hesitantly placed a hand on the Doctor's shoulder.

"I'm fine," the Doctor replied and became all alert again. "Right as rain! Come on! There has to be something worthwhile in this old village." Amy let out an exasperated breathe and rolled her eyes at Rory but followed the Doctor anyway, betraying her excitement for discovery. "Oh, look a pub! I like a little pub." The Doctor pointed to a fairly large building called _The Village Arms_. "Come on! Let's go check out the pub! A pub is the best way to find information about a place!"

As soon as they stepped inside the pub, the scent of stale cigarettes and booze hit them. Amongst the loud chatter, they could faintly hear the Jukebox in a secluded corner of the bar playing an Elvis song. Most surprisingly, they could also hear a lot of coughing and spluttering. There was definitely something going on, the villagers sitting at the bar and at the tables looked half-dead. As the Doctor, Amy and Rory moved further into the pub they were given strange looks, although that was nothing new for the time travellers. The Doctor seemed oblivious to any looks he was receiving but they were making Amy and Rory seem a little self-conscious.

"Same again, Rachel, love," one of the punters at the bar requested and then turned towards the Doctor, Amy and Rory. "I don't know who you are or why you're here, but if you had any sense, you would leave."

"Why?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"Well everyone gets sick around here, don't they?" another voice from the other side of the Doctor piped up.

"How?" it was Amy who spoke this time.

"What symptoms are they showing?" Rory asked going into nurse-mode.

"It's the tree," a frail, old man said bitterly.

"Oh, come on now!" Rachel snapped from behind the counter and slapped her hand on the wooden surface. The commotion had caught the attention of the whole pub. "I've had enough of your wild theories, Samuel!" She looked at the three travellers before speaking in a calming voice. "It's the water. The water's been polluted, that's why we've been buying bottled water from the next town along."

The Doctor looked around the building before turning his attention back to Rachael. "It doesn't seem like the bottled water's helping." Rachael's eyes widened slightly before she turned her attention back to the drink she was pouring.

"What _does_ happen when you get ill then?" Amy's Scottish accent cut through the awkward silence that had fallen.

"Fatigue…fever…nausea and you're stuck with this cough, it's a bit like the flu," one of the men told Amy.

"Well, maybe it is the flu then," Amy suggested, a little sarcastically.

"But it's been going on for weeks, Miss. Some people have been ill for that entire duration! It's infected over half the population here and so far, nobody's recovered. Not one person."

"Interesting," the Doctor cut in. He was intrigued now and Amy and Rory knew that they wouldn't be leaving the village any time soon. "And who was the first to become ill?"

"Never mind that!" Samuel spoke before anyone else could answer. "People went missing well before this sickness!" His speech was cut short with a hacking cough of his own.

"Who's gone missing?" Rory asked.

"Laura," Samuel said once he got his couching fit under control. "Rob, the postman." He looked as though he was about to continue but Rachel cut across him.

"People are getting sick, Samuel!" she snapped. "If I didn't have a business here, God knows I'd leave too!"

"Laura didn't leave!" Samuel shouted back in a voice that verged on desperation. "I saw it! I saw the tree take her!" The Doctor looked even more intrigued now but Rachel rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Samuel," the man at the bar warned. "Keep talkin' like that and people will start to talk." The man pointed a finger at the frail-looking man, spittle flew from his mouth as he added, "And you're the last person to see her alive. Don't think nobody noticed how you always found excuses to see her. Who's to say you didn't do away with her?"

"Now come on, that's enough," Rachel chided and turned back towards the time travellers. "She's probably just left town." She didn't sound as though she believed her own words.

"Don't you think that's a bit of a coincidence?" Rory piped up. "Leaving town just before this illness turns up?"

"Probably wanted to get away from this old pervert," the man muttered.

"So what about this tree?" The Doctor addressed Samuel.

"Oh don't encourage him," Rachel hissed before busying herself with her other customers. The Doctor prompted him to continue anyway.

"It turned up out of nowhere," Samuel said in a hushed voice. "One minute it wasn't there, and the next it was. It was if it grew overnight."

"Ha ha!" The Doctor interrupts with amusement and a look of wonder in his eyes. He turns toward his travelling companions with an air of excitement akin to that what children experience on Christmas morning. "Fast growing trees! That's just fab!" The Doctor's delight was infectious and soon Amy and Rory were grinning along with him but Samuel seemed far from impressed.

"This isn't a laughing matter, sir," he said with contempt. "I've been mocked enough, I don't need you to add to it."

"Oh no," the Doctor protested, his expression sobered, "I didn't mean to mock you, it's just that the prospect of fast growing tree things is amazing!" He smiled again. Samuel still looked a little suspicious of The Doctor's intent but he lowered his guard a bit after Amy smiled reassuringly at him.

"What makes you suspect the tree?" Rory asked a little hesitantly.

"I saw it with my own eyes!" Samuel said vehemently. He leaned forward and lowered his voice. "It _did _take Laura _and _the postman. Who knows how many others it's taken?"

"How do you know it's the tree?" The Doctor asked. His eyes were alight with curiosity.

"It's alien!" the old man hissed.

"How d'ya know?" Amy asked.

"It looks alien," he replied. "It's nothing like any tree I've ever seen. The bark's red. I ain't never seen a red tree before, and I've been around for a while." He suddenly looked scared. "Nobody believes me. I'm an old man, I have nowhere else to go and if this illness holds out then I won't have to worry about nothing no more."

Amy and Rory looked grim but The Doctor's eyes shone with excitement again.

"Samuel," he started with a cheery tone and clasped his hand over the man's shoulder in a friendly gesture. "How about you show us this tree?"

The man's face lit up with a barely disguised hope, you could almost believe that he wasn't as sick as everyone else, "You _believe _me?"

"A man like you? I don't think you'd make this up." The Doctor roughly shook the man's shoulders before gesturing that they should proceed their investigation of the tree as soon as possible. Samuel got up from his chair and walked with a lightened heart towards to pub exit. His help had finally came.

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A/N: Thank you to Isadora Katniss Pond for the kind review! =) It really brightened up my day! =D

So, chapter 2, I hope you enjoy!


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